OBJECTIVES: Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) is a chronic condition that may affect patients’ quality of life. It is one of the most common complaints in primary care settings with relevant consequences on health economics in terms of increasing health costs and limiting resources. An objective of this multicentre trial was to evaluate the time of action of rabeprazole 20 mg daily (RAB) and omeprazole 20 mg daily (OME) in inducing symptom relief in patients with reflux oesophagitis in the curative phase. A prospective health economic analysis was performed to compare the costs of the 2 treatments in obtaining symptoms improvement. METHODS: A total of 484 patients, with mild to severe reflux oesophagitis (Savary-Miller grade I to III), were randomised in a double-blind, parallel group fashion, to receive RAB or OME for a period of 4 to 8 weeks with control visits every two weeks. The patients had to fill in a daily diary regarding to the number of tablets/capsules taken, and the daytime and night time heartburn intensity using the following score: absent, mild, moderate, severe and terrible. The economic analysis was designed and carried out from a societal and National Health Service perspective. RESULTS: In the curative phase of reflux oesophagitis (4-8 weeks) treatment with RAB (20 mg) resulted less expensive than OME (20mg). The estimated mean total costs were found to be lower in RAB group (58.04€) than in the OME one (64.34€; p<0.001). With regard to numbers of symptom-free days, RAB (67.1%) was found to be more effective than OME (66.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Rabeprazole (20mg) once daily is cost effective compared with omeprazole (20mg) once daily in the curative phase of reflux oesophagitis. Rabeprazole represents good value for money and efficient use of health care resources in the treatment of reflux oesophagitis.